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US combat units on “high alert” after Incirlik surrounded

Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, speaking with Air Force Colonel John C. Walker, the commander of the 39th Air Base Wing, on the landing strip of Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, July 31, 2016, Source: DoD photo by Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Dominique A. Pineiro

Vero Beach, FL – (TRUNEWS) Fort Campbell, KY and other active duty combat installations through the U.S. were placed on high alert status Friday, according to a military source.

All units in the 101st Airborne Division are currently operating under a 12 hour recall order as of Friday night, according to the active duty soldier, and other combat bases are also on the same recall status for potential combat deployment.

The source told TRUNEWS:

“We were told at a safety briefing that it could be for anything, such as an attack on Clarksville and Nashville. Crew serve weapons are locked in vehicles, ready to be quickly mounted, 24 hour guard has been implemented on our motor pool, and past 17:00 PM CT police dogs are being used to search every car coming through gate.”

Nicknamed the “Screaming Eagles”, the 101st Airborne Division is an elite modular specialized light infantry division of the United States Army, trained for air assault operations. Its unique battlefield mobility and high level of training have kept the division in the vanguard of America’s land combat forces in recent conflicts.

TRUNEWS has reached out to the Public Affairs Office for Fort Campbell as well as Brigade, Battalion, and Company staff duty desks for comment. However, no official reply has been given at this time, and the Staff Sergeant manning the Division staff duty desk “could not confirm or deny” the alert status.

On Saturday night, Turkey’s Hürriyet Daily News reported that 7,000 police armed with rifles and armored TOMA vehicles surrounded the Incirlik Air Base, blockading the entrance. Hurriyet reported that the force response was carried out by Adana police after being tipped off about a new coup attempt, being launched in part from Incirlik Air Base.

RT reported Saturday that a realtime airspace map from FlightRadar24 appeared to show the airspace around the NATO base had also been closed. They also highlighted a tweet from a Twitter account named “Income Disparity”, who reported that communication with Incirlik had been cut off, and attempts to communicate with the base by email or phone had failed.